Look Who's Talking

Most of us have heard the stories of kids who say nothing until their fifth birthday and then spontaneously begin speaking in paragraphs...we've long had suspicions that Grace was one of those kids. Grace knows and can use language; its just an inconvenience that interrupts her thought processes. Inquiries and complex issues usually get deferred to her agent, big sister Lily. Greetings and niceties get dismissed with a wave of her hand, and she observes Lily's constant drone with bemusement. Grace is an observer...she ponders and makes notes.

We recently attended a speech assessment with Grace and found that she indeed knows the English language and can use it appropriately when no one else seems willing to speak for her. However, unlike her sibling, we've learned that she only speaks when she has something important to say and an announcement recently came at dinner last month:
"Lily stole all the money from my piggy bank and now I have no money left"
I wasn't sure whether to be shocked that Grace had begun speaking or that Lily had begun a life of crime. No one was quite as shocked as Lil who has been able to secretly torment her younger sibling for 3 years without consequence and now it would seem, the jig was up. The outcome of that communication worked in Grace's favour as Lil has had to work to repay the ill gotten loan, and Grace has decided that tattling has its benefits. Now and then, Grace will tell Lily that she can keep some of the money if Lil would just behave for a few minutes.

While Grace now demonstrates her mastery of the English language, she hasn't quite figured out the concept of tact. Her Dad is the essence of tact, so much so that when he actually asserts a point without filters, jaws drop. Unfortunately, Grace has learned most of her skills from Mom, who never quite mastered tact.

"Why did you marry a silly man?" she asked Aunti Anne recently
"Are your children silly as well?" she probed. In conclusion she commented that she would not marry a silly man. We were not able to establish if it is the man part or the silly part, or maybe the marrying part she isn't keen on, but I am sure she will let us know when she chooses to.